or1980v2pt1

tators takes up most of the building's
interior. The stands surround the
arena on all four sides. Their upper
tier (1,800 seats) is stationary and the
lower one retractable (2,100 seats).
The seats are easily retracted beneath
the stationary tier. By transforming the
stands in this way, it is possible to
alter the size and purpose of the hall.
The capacity of the stands can be
changed, too. Sections for officials,
media, and VIPs were reserved on the
stands during the Games. The seats
are plastic chairs.
The competition arena and the
training halls have a synthetic flooring.
The surface of the arena can be
removed, thus making it possible to
stage competitions in some sports on
a deck-type wooden floor.
The competition hall is encircled
with the lobbies, snack bars and cloak
rooms located under the stands. When
no spectators are expected, four playing
grounds, measuring 24 by 12 m
each, can be laid out in the lobby. To
this end, the cloak rooms can easily
be transformed: the racks are moved
aside and hidden behind vertical
screens. Special slots were made in
the floor to anchor apparatus and
mobile structures.
The multisports hall has no natural
lighting. It is illuminated by four
groups of lighting projectors installed
above the stationary stands. Besides,
blocks of powerful lights are provided
directly on the spherical roof of the
hall to intensify the lighting for highquality
colour telecasts.
Locker rooms for competitors are
located opposite the main entrance, at
the level of the multisports hall. Below
are the press quarters and rooms for
technical officials.
Four 36x18 m training halls are
located in the bottom part of the
building, under the lobby of the mul-
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tisports hall. Provided with natural
lighting from one side, they are designed
for tennis. Basketball and volleyball
competitions can also be
staged in two of them. Each hall has
locker rooms of its own, with showers
and toilets. The same zone houses
saunas with massage rooms and quarters
for coaches and instructors. Administration
offices, a first-aid station,
service personnel quarters, and a storage
area for sports equipment are
adjacent to them.
The entrance to the lower and
intermediate zones is under the terrace
of the central entrance to the
Arena. It gives access to the cloak
room, snack bars, locker rooms and
showers for the tennis players who
use the open courts in winter.
The heating, ventilation, air conditioning
and other engineering equipment
is located on the lower level.
The unique construction of the
roof of the Arena, consisting of precast
concrete elements, and the unusual
procedure used to erect them
were employed for the first time in
building a large-span sports installation.
First, the upper part of the dome
was assembled from precast concrete
slabs, which were erected on a temporary
metal scaffolding by a crane
that moved on rails around the building.
Then 28 folded plate shells supporting
the central part of the dome
were placed beneath the dome by the
same crane. After all the folded plate
shells had been positioned, the scaffolding
was removed and the work
inside the building progressed under
shelter.
The Arena was designed by the
Mosproekt-2 Department jointly
with specialised design offices of individual
ministries and government agencies.